The 4 March 2024 was a major day in Ebolowa for the Port Authority of Kribi (PAK) as the company continues to work on strengthening its social acceptability and blending with its environment by contributing to the development of its area of influence. In the ceremony hall of the Regional Council of the South (CRS), an array of officials and guests came to witness the signing of the cooperation agreement between both organisations.

 On the top table, the representative of the Governor of the South Region, Patrice MELOM, the PAK General Manager, and Emmanuel MVE ELEMVA, the President of the CSR. The three men have a common will: fostering synergy between regional players and stakeholders for the smooth, balanced and sustainable economic, social and cultural development of the South Region.

Taking the floor first, Emmanuel MVE expressed his joy to see that the participation in the making and implementation of economic development policies in his Region required cooperation and a wide range of partnerships with local players. He then expressed the wish that this synergy will help make the South Region an efficient logistic, industrial and port hub with corridors servicing the countries of the sub-region. He ended his speech by restating CRS commitment to fulfill its obligations, namely by facilitating synergy between PAK and local authorities, by associating PAK to initiatives aiming at promoting education, health, culture, tourism and job creation in the Region.

He was followed by Patrice MELOM who first restated how such partnerships with local authorities are of huge interest to his company. He then presented the major cooperation avenues of the cooperation agreement especially aligning strategies and services for shared view of development, promoting economic activities and natural resource management, supporting development initiatives towards local authorities and local communities, and investing in regional projects. He continued by delving on local cooperation with councils of the Region which will help PAK to ‘’significantly impact its direct area of influence and increase its visibility in the Region’’. In his opinion, the Ebolowa agreement will equally be PAK’s answer to the numerous calls for assistance that have been submitted to the company since its creation. A much awaited answer within available means based on priorities and a contribution to ‘’achieving projects found in the common interest planning documents’’, Patrice MELOM added.

The agreement signed between both institutions is valid for 3 years renewable and binds both parties to: defining regional development actions, mobilising financial, material and human resources, coordinating the actions of development partners and holding discussions to carry out high-impact regional projects.